The Americans, who listened to the radio sixty years ago, felt that Republican Vice President Nixon was winning. On the contrary, those who watched television attributed more points to Kennedy.
Kennedy was not one of the most experienced politicians at the time, but he reportedly looked much better on screen – he was tanned and energetic. Nixon, who was recovering from the virus, on the other hand, underestimated his make-up, his unshaven face glistening. According to historians, his suit was not ideal either, it did not suit him and its color blended with the background. Kennedy eventually won the election by a narrow margin.
Candidates were afraid of television broadcasts
After Nixon’s debacle, other politicians rejected the television debate. This was the case with Lyndon Johnson in 1964 and Nixon himself in 1968 and 1972, when he was president.
On the contrary, four years later, Gerald Ford mistakenly evaluated the television broadcast with Jimmy Carter as a chance, but lost. In 1980, the card reversed again and Carter lost to Ronald Reagan in the debate and in the election overall. Since then, television competitions have been held regularly and no one has avoided them.
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Mistakes of politicians in television debates
The duel between George Bush the Elder and Bill Clinton and Ross Perot in 1992, when Bush looked at his watch several times on a thorny topic, also remains in his memory. The gesture struck the Americans like a towel thrown into a ring.
Albert Gore, in a debate with George W. Bush in 2000, was told that he was sighing to show that he did not like Bush’s answers. It annoyed the audience, Gore impressed them with a big, arrogant effect.
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On the radio twelve years earlier
In the United States, presidential debates have deep roots, the first of which was led by Abraham Lincoln in the 19th century with his opponent. At first, the debates appeared only in the press, later on the radio, for the first time in 1948. Television then made the fights even more attractive. In recent years, candidates have often used the Internet and social networks.
The most watched so far was Donald Trump’s 2016 television debate with Hillary Clinton, which was watched by 84 million Americans.
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